‘Jerry’ Christmas: Gaston County man goes extra mile to make kids smile ...Middle East

STANLEY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – At Community Charter School, a familiar volunteer has a holiday hall pass.

“Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas!” he bellowed, walking toward the media center.

Students know this jolly visitor on a first-name basis. But despite the seasonal suit he wore last Friday, “Santa” is not the name they know him by.

“When they call me ‘Mr. Jerry,’ it just tickles me to death,” says Jerry Whitlock, who’s been a volunteer reader at the school for the past year.

“Why does he look like that,” a child asked about his Santa getup.

Undeterred, Mr. Jerry continued.

“Okay, we’re going to start reading now,” Santa aka ‘Mr. Jerry’ told the students, who gathered to hear him read Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and The Night Before Christmas.

“They light up,” Whitaker says.

“Well Rudolph just blushed, from his head to his toes, til all of his fur was red as his nose,” he read.

“Children are our future. If you can help them in any way; reading, mentoring, anything, I think that’s the best thing to do,” he told Queen City News.

In the town of Stanley, he needs no introduction.

“Mr. Jerry is like ‘Mr. Stanley,’” said Ashley Hager, the media coordinator. “He comes to all the community events; everybody knows who he is.”

His appearance is not a Christmas miracle; he actually reads to them every month, usually without the Santa suit, of course.

“I like him being dressed up, and I like the stories that he read,” student Samuel Hefner said.

“Ha ha ha, Mr. Jerry makes us laugh,” says Hager, perhaps because Jerry’s got jokes.

“Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. I went, ‘Oh look a mouse!’” said Mr. Jerry.

“I knew there was not actually a mouse,” Samuel says.

Even when they might seem a little drowsy, they’re listening.

“St. Nick! Old St. Nick! That’s you!” a boy says.

Jerry’s the real deal, even if he didn’t fool anyone.

“You’re not the real Santa!” one kid said bluntly.

“You’re fake!” a girl declared.

“I’m sweet though, right?” he replied.

Okay, so he’s no master of disguise; dressing up is just a very Jerry Christmas bonus.

“He’s fun and he’s always excited to come and see us,” Lexi Silvers said.

“It’s just heartwarming that he cares so much that he loves these kids so much,” says Hager.

“Just the look on their faces, when I go up there and they give me a high-five or a hug, that just means the world to me,” said Whitaker about the joy of being Mr. Jerry.

He stands at the door at the end of each reading session to say goodbye to the class. That’s the pay-off that makes it so worthwhile.

“Thank you buddy, thank you sweetheart, Merry Christmas!” said Mr. Jerry. “You guys are awesome, Merry Christmas!”

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